Game 28: Temple

farkdogg · Post by **farkdogg** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 11:07 pm

Real victories are better...

Pierce9999 · Post by **Pierce9999** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 11:08 pm

It was a good game, 78. They played as well as they have all season, but just fell short to a better team. There ARE other ways to look at a game other than being negative, you know.

Carl Spackler · Post by **Carl Spackler** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 11:17 pm

For the first time in many games I was thoroughly encouraged by Javorn's play. At his best he is an athletic slasher type who finishes at the rim. He plays with reckless abandon, sort of a football mentality. He played poorly on offense in OT but I thought he was outstanding in regulation. With hard work and dedication we should see this type of game 75% of the time from him next season.

78 · Post by 78 » Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:56 am

Pierce9999 wrote:It was a good game, 78. They played as well as they have all season, but just fell short to a better team. There ARE other ways to look at a game other than being negative, you know.

Agree 100 percent. Not sure what happened to them in overtime, because they played a solid game in regulation. I wish DK had used one of his 4 timeouts to draw up a play at the end of regulation. A hoop there might have ended the game.

albaby · Post by **albaby** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:57 am

farkdogg wrote:I would love for Riley to step it up, but it's clear that he's taken the lower road by whining to the Twitter reading world...

That maddens me even more than his poor play!

He can tweet all he wants to, just as you can post on here all you want to.

THeavyweight · Post by **THeavyweight** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 1:03 am

^
Everyone needs to back the hell of this kid's case. He clearly is letting it get to his head. And yea I know I'm going to hear something along the lines of well he's a D-1 basketball player he should be able to handle it. Yea well even if so why the hell continue to say shit when you know it bothers him.

throwdown · Post by **throwdown** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 1:08 am

Marty Peretz wrote:Honestly was incredibly proud to call myself a UMass fan tonight. The guys battled for 45 minutes. Execution wasn't always there, but they played with passion and the fans were awesome. Loudest the building has been in the DK era and I was shocked ot hear there were only 3600+ in attendance. Would have guessed 1,000 or so more as it seemed a lot more crowded than the Seton Hall or UCF game. Either way, it sure as hell was a lot louder. I just hope the team doesn't pack it in and is able to pull off two more wins and get to AC.

GC played his head off tonight in particular. Would have liked Freddie to get more minutes or Jesse to get in. I think a 3 point shooter could have mixed things up tonight.

Are you praising GC?! I thought he played well tonight as well. Lets go get Fordham!

UMassbball14 · Post by **UMassbball14** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 1:36 am

albaby wrote:
farkdogg wrote:I would love for Riley to step it up, but it's clear that he's taken the lower road by whining to the Twitter reading world...

That maddens me even more than his poor play!
He can tweet all he wants to, just as you can post on here all you want to.

I don't know, it is kind of irritating that some of these guys' heads just aren't in it. I was very encouraged by their play tonight, but things like Freddy's tweets, and Jesse's recent few are pretty troubling to me. I understand it may be frustrating, but the fact that it seems like they couldn't care less about how the team did and are only concerned for themselves doesn't bode well for this team in the future.

"It's crazy how freshmen get treated" "Don't feel like talking to NOBODY" "I'm ready to call it quits I hate this shit now"

Sure, Jesse could be talking about something else. But considering it came straight after the game, when he didn't play at all...

I was happy despite the loss, now I don't know...

Mike0473 · Post by **Mike0473** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:11 am

Riley & Jesse are clearly frustrated right now. It is time for those guys to relax and have some fun out there in the last couple of games. These guys need to stay off the internet, or at least don't read stuff about basketball. That is a good stratagy for any athlete, pro or college.

If the players are reading this, just remember it is still just a game. Not life or death, even tho some of the folks (myself included) sometimes write posts on the forum like it is. I was just reading a tennis forum where some posters were making a case of how Roger Federer, 16 time grand slam champion sucks. Even the greatest have their critics.

At any rate, great effort tonight.

MassModestMouse · Post by **MassModestMouse** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:13 am

It continues to perplex me why anyone cares about what players post on twitter at all. After a frustrating loss, a frustrating 19 year-old player posted his frustrated thoughts on a frustrating result in which he didn't get the playing time i'm sure he was hoping for. This doesn't make him a poor sport, a bad team mate, or mean he's going to transfer at the end of the year. He is stating what he feels in a public forum because he can and because it's what he and most other kids of his age have been doing for the past few years.

Twitter is a great tool to spread news. A less great tool to determine the worthiness of a collegiate athlete, in my opinion, and people should stop looking too far in to every one.

I would like to give kudos to the team for a great effort, and to giving the die-hard fan one last adrenaline rush before the end of the season, even if the ultimate result was disappointment. Thanks guys!

Floyd · Post by **Floyd** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:40 am

The guys played great last night, except for a few missed shots down the stretch. Anyone who thinks Javorn shouldn't be starting is nuts, the kid is a tough , hardnosed player and will be the leader for us the next 2 years. Great attitude, heart, and gives it everything. Loved the teams' effort, just fell a bit short. City busted his ass, Matt Hill played well, and GC and Anthony all played well and should feel good about the effort for Senior night. Let's go out and take it Saturday, come bck on Tuesday, and make a nice run in league tourney!!

LooneyGoon · Post by **LooneyGoon** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:07 am

Sampsons power move to the hoop was amazing, with the big dunk to finish. Putney was all over the floor on defense on some possessionss, love the intensity.

Big City, see ya later. Anyone else see in the first half when for 2 straight offensive possessions he was so winded he stayed on the defensive side of the court? Maddening. How is someone NOT IN SHAPE on senior night?

The non-use of timeouts, maddening.

We were leading in the 2nd half until we went back to the Anthony only offense to end the game and in OT.

I think there is potential with: Putney, Sampson and Farrell. But Riley seems like headcase and you forget Vinson is even on the team at points.

Thought Sean Carter had an alright game as well.

shovelhd · Post by **shovelhd** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:26 am

LooneyGoon wrote: Big City, see ya later. Anyone else see in the first half when for 2 straight offensive possessions he was so winded he stayed on the defensive side of the court? Maddening. How is someone NOT IN SHAPE on senior night?

The non-use of timeouts, maddening.

Three times Big City called for out after at least five minutes of play and not one coach on the UMass bench did anything about it. We ended the half with 4 timeouts on the board. Say whatever you want about this guy's conditioning, but he played his arse off for every minute he was in there and he needed a break. If the coaches missed it, or were trying to teach him a lesson, whatever excuse you want to make, it was stupid. Sean Carter was not in any kind of foul trouble, either. Stupid coaching.

I thought we played the best game all year up until the steal. The fumble at the other end started the trip down. You could see it on their faces as the air went out of their sails. Up until that point we played UMass defense, tough, in your face defense that is engaging to watch. At the other end, we were driving at will, spreading the floor out well forcing a lot of movement in Temple's zone, which opened up the lanes. Almost every drive was preceded by a high screen which Temple could not hedge. Real screens, too, not these lame soft screens of late. In the end I think we ran out of gas, and missed key FT's for the loss.

All losses suck, but if you're going to lose a game this close to postseason play, this is the kind of game to lose. They were so close they could taste it. The best players will rise above it and take it to the next level. Let's see who answers the call.

Carl Spackler · Post by **Carl Spackler** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:31 am

Take a look at TV's box score line - 23 minutes of nothing.... He has definitely played better in the recent past but tonight's game is a microcosm of a disappointing sophomore season. Freddie doesn't play the same position but he's got eyes and he can see who is playing well perhaps his classmate logging big minutes with zero effectiveness is a source of frustration.

If I'm riding the pine behind Bird, Parish and McHale I'm frustrated by my lack of minutes but I clearly understand that the guys in front of me are better players. We don't have better grade talent on this team and I believe in Freddie's case he feels he is one of the top players on the team.

eldonabe · Post by **eldonabe** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:41 am

Rudy wrote:What frustrates me are the people that treat UMass like high school... just produce good kids, be competitive and show some improvement. Pretty soon, we can stop keeping score like they do in youth sports in other hippie enclaves.

WOW! How dare you challenge the establishemnt with those incendiary words!

Do you mean to say [write] that the object of the game is to win? Players may actually be asked to work hard in practice and get little or no run? The time and money spent on coaches and facilities and travel budgets have some relative meaning to what actually happens on the floor and not just in the classroom. ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT THESE KIDS MAY BE ATHLETE/SCHOLARS and NOT SCHOLAR/ATHLETES?

You sir are no longer invited to attend games in Amherst or root for this team in a public setting! This is blasphomy!

HOW DARE YOU!

Disclaimer - I should not and will not assume that the Dukakis disciples will understand all of the sarcasm dripping from the above statements....